We often think that other people know more than we do, that when we get a high grade, we ‘just got lucky.’ We self-criticise and think our work is never good enough. This results in a lack of productivity and stress. Imposter syndrome is sometimes so normalised that we don’t even recognise it for what it is.
It is natural to be your harshest critic, but it is also important to be kind to yourself. We’re all only human, we’re not made to be perfect and produce perfect work all the time, so let go of perfectionism.
Remember that people know as much as you do. Yes, there will be subjects where someone has more knowledge than you, but there will also be subjects where you have more knowledge than others.
So be kind to yourself and know that you’re not alone.
This is just a small selection of the wonderful theatre that is available to access from the comfort of your own home. If you are able to do so please do support the theatre industry in this time so that they are able to continue providing content like this for us.
Free
Mint Theatre – 6 free streamed productions: Jan 4 – June 13
After 1460 days of a society removing their Thalia to reveal the ugly Melpomene that had long been festering underneath it, a ray of light seems to have broken through with the delivery of the inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb”. This piece of literary iridescence was written and performed by the 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, who is now the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. As a young black woman myself, I am in awe to see someone who is so close to my age make living, breathing history. Become living breathing history. Exist as living, breathing history. I can imagine that in the very moment that she began to address the 46th President of the United States, every little black girl was entranced by their tv screen as they saw themselves utter art articulated from turmoil to those who are the byproduct of turmoil and those who incited it, to begin with. Those little girls saw their skin glow on screen in the same way Gorman’s poem did, they heard words that had circulated their minds but didn’t know how to express, said to a congregation of faces they never would’ve thought they would be allowed to see. They felt their souls seen and vulnerable yet soaring in a phoenix-like disposition without the fear of its kindling being drowned. Those little black girls saw themselves for what they truly are, for what we truly are – light but purified.
Amanda Gorman, thank you for showing us a glimpse of what the top of the hill looks like.
Here are just a few of the most exciting books of 2021. Add your recommendations in the comments below…and be sure to shop independent if you can!
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
PUB DATE: May 27, 2021
New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is making a fast return. After nearly two years since her last novel got released, Taylor Jenkins Reid is making our quarantine period a bit more exciting with her new novel coming out.
After selling over a million copies of Lilac Girls, a novel about an American philanthropist who helped young girls be released from Ravensbruck concentration camp. A heartbreaking story incredibly well written, that left us wanting more of Martha’s magic…the waiting is soon to be over. Sunflower Sisters will be her third book, all based on true events- like her past novels, this third book promises an emotional journey, but one that cannot be missed.
After reading James Baldwin’s 1985 essay, which included topics such as sexuality, hyper-masculinity, and racialized violence, Robert Jones Jr. felt relief and with that seed he created his first novel The Prophets. It might be his first book but it fast became a New York Times Instant Bestselling novel. The Prophets is said to be a deeply profound, unsettling, but moving story rotating around a forbidden union between two enslaved young men and the shattering but poetic story they created.
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give A Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders
PUB DATE: January 12, 2021
After twenty years of teaching, New York Times Bestseller and Booker Prize winner, George Saunders is sharing with us what he and his students have discovered over the years. This book will take the reader on an exploration of great writing but also it will take one inside the mind of a brilliant writer. Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed, has been reading Sauders’s masterpiece nonstop and called it exceptional reading.
Goodreads announced The Good Sister to be one of the “Most Anticipated Books of 2021” and “The Big Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021.” After her very entertaining and twisty novel The-Mother-in-Law Sally is making a return with her psychological thriller/ domestic drama about two twin sisters who seem perfect on the outside but what is perfect always breaks.
The Other Black Girl seems like what everyone has been waiting for, it was named the most anticipated book of 2021 by The Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Goodreads, and about seven other sources. A novel about the tension between two young Black women in the publishing industry, described to be “shars as a knife.”
A very busy year for the brilliant Kristin Hannah. Author of twenty four books, including two that are being turned into screen productions this year: Firefly Lane, release date February 3, and The Nightingale, December 22. With a busy schedule her new book The Four Winds is a testament of hope, a deeply moving story about the strength and bond between a mother and daughter. Delia Owens, author of Where The Crawdads Sing stated that this novel is, “Powerful and compelling.”
Kazuo Ishiguro, the meticulous author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, which were both made into acclaimed films and have each sold more than two million copies, is publishing a new novel this year.Klara and the Sun, is the first publication by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. It is said to be a thrilling feat of world-building, and a heartbreaking novel of tenderness and humanity.
Loan Le might be a newbie at writing novels, this being her first one, but as she works in the publishing world she knows what she’s doing. Le’s novel has reached many Most Anticipated 2021 Books lists and it seems like it is a book worth keeping an eye out for. A romcom in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love but must navigate their new relationship and families’ feud.
Crystal’s debut novel, but a powerful one. A sensitive, funny, and painful coming-of-age story, which focuses on social issues and has been the book many readers have been waiting for. Mason Deaver, bestselling author of I Wish You All the Best praised this bool as: “This book feels like your best friend giving you a hug—it’s warm and sweet and healing.”
I heard from many people that Euphoria was a really good show. So, when lockdown came around again and my need for entertainment and distractions rose, I gave it a try. The show was so addictive and the episodes so thrilling that it was hard not to binge it all at once. Instead, I made it my little treat. When I was especially productive that day, I allowed myself to watch one episode in the evening. Unfortunately, Euphoria only has 8 episodes that are available to watch outside the USA right now, so my number of little treats were limited, and I saved the last episode for a long time until I eventually finally watched it.
At first Euphoria might seem like just another teen show, in the USA, in random suburbs with a random high school. You might think of some standard characters, like the mean girl, the popular football player, the beauty, the cheerleaders, the weirdos. To some extent these labels might fit, but there’s much more to the characters: flaws, raw emotions, pain, confusion. They are not one-sided at all and rather come across as fully human, so convincingly, that you almost forget it’s fictional. Or is it all actually?
The omniscient narrator of the show, is Rue (Zendaya Coleman), 16, mentally ill and just back from rehab after an overdose. Even though she knows that her drug addiction is tearing her family apart, she has no desire to stay clean. She is inspired by the writer of the show, Sam Levinson’s own experiences. As a teenager he struggled with addiction, and worked that experience into Rue’s character.
When Rue meets her new best friend Jules (Hunter Schafer), she is determined to stay off drugs for her. Soon, Rue and Jules become more than just friends and it becomes clear that Rue is in love with her. She starts to depend her recovery on Jules, which puts her under pressure as she has her own problems to deal with. We watch them fall into a painfully toxic relationship, sweet and heartbreaking at the same time.
There are more characters who tell their story, such as Maddie, who’s in a manipulative relationship with Nate. Even though he physically abuses her, she can’t break free from his spell. Kat is changing her image from shy nice girl to a bondage bad bitch and dips into online sex work. Cassie is struggling with a new boyfriend, dealing with an alcoholic mom and missing father. Rue’s drug dealer Fez is a dropout of high school, doing business with gangsters but always tries to protect her as if she was his little sister.
All those characters deal with issues that we all are to some extent familiar with and even if we’re not, we know someone who is, which makes the show so close to life and relatable.
Not only the characters are outstanding but also the camera work and cinematography. A lot of the time the background is a combination of light and dark, like fireworks in a night sky, Rue is standing in the front, glitter around her sad eyes. The makeup in the whole show reaches another dimension, Jules always has little eyeliner artworks around her eyes, all in all a lot of glitter is involved, which is now called ‘the euphoria style’.
The fact that a lesbian love story with a trans girl, also played by a trans actress, is the main focus is another thing that I cherish about this show. It is so important to tell these stories. The heteronormative version of love has been told too many times. Queer love exists and trans people exist and it’s important that this is normalised. Euphoria clears the way for a new generation, as it archives what has been overdue for too long: seeing a trans girl on tv, whose identity is not about being trans. She is her own well-rounded character with her own issues and a story. This is what makes Euphoria so special to many people, me included. If you haven’t watched it yet, give it a try, you might fall in love with it as well.
Have a look through each of these creative prompts and see where they take you!
A study at Brown University of a crater on Venus caused about a billion years ago, has shown that it’s crust, or lithosphere, is too thick for it to have tectonic plates (at least in the last 1 billion years) which could disprove the theory of tectonic plates for Earth.
Due to the increasing levels of unrecyclable plastics found in the ocean, chemists are currently trying to find ways to make plastic more recyclable. Most plastic when melted down becomes too brittle to work with or mould into something new.
“You do not deserve the air you breathe. Do you deny it?”: Jörmungandr is the world snake of Norse mythology. Having been banished from his home to live in the darkest, deepest parts of the Ocean’s on Migard, the members of the ocean go to him as their last hope of stopping the humans before it’s too late.
Nasa’s Chandra X-Ray Telescope has been able to provide new, key information on blackholes outside of our galaxy. As blackholes were said to only have a mass, an electrical charge and spin they were said to be ‘bald’. Extreme blackholes (those that have maxed out their charge and spin) are said to now have ‘hair’ – they have other features that can be observed and measured.
Black Intentions: Having been left with nothing, two starving sisters make a deal with a magician for power from the ancient giants that live inside of blackholes. He gives them this power on the condition that they use their powers only for survival. However, the giants of the blackholes possess powers so strong, it is almost impossible to resist temptation.
A dustbin man, Jose Alberto Gutierrez, in Columbia started amassing books he found while collecting rubbish about 20 years ago. Having now collected over 20,000 books, he has opened a library called “Strength of Words” that children can visit for free during the weekends.
Tu Bishvat. Often named as the Rosh Hashanah (Jewish word for New Year) of trees. Of life.
As somebody that is part of the Jewish community I have always shown respect and love towards this holiday. It is a moment in the Jewish calendar where we look towards the future of our planet Earth. It also allows us to develop a connection with the natural world. The Torah says “when you enter the land (of Israel) and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten” (Leviticus 19:23). This law therefore made the Rabbis question, in ancient times, when to mark the birthday of a tree. They then established the fifteenth of the month of Shevat as a general birthday for all trees.
As somebody who invests a lot of my time into the digital world and does not necessarily involve myself into the natural world, I find this holiday a day which allows me to develop some form of connection with nature. Even though I often explore the natural world creatively, through drawing, photography, watching documentaries and reading, I’ve never really found the time to connect with nature. To be a part of it. To breath it. After thinking about this, I personally find it disgusting how much time I spend in-front of my screen and not in the ‘real’ world; however, this is the reality now. The reality of our world. This is why I’ve decided this holiday – Tu Bishvat – should be considered a major holiday. It acts as a bridge, guiding me from technology to the ‘real’ world of nature!
I awoke at 7AM on Tu Bishvat. After attending an online university seminar, I decided to go to Kosher Kingdom, which is a Jewish store near where I live to get supplies. I walked down Golders Green Road, excited, yet for some reason nervous at the same time, and later came to a halt on Russell Parade where the store is. I stopped at the lights. My glasses reflected a row of Hasidic men that were confidently carrying baskets of fresh fruit. These fruits signifying ideas such as life, beginnings and their respect for the Earth. I later walked towards Kosher Kingdom and went inside. I frantically ran around the store in a hurry; I was concerned whether it was closing early due to Tu Bishvat. My fingers wrapped around a biscuit, protecting me from the many hands that were trying to move towards the fresh fruit aisle. I had tried to get everything my Rabbi had asked me: an apple, a nut, a piece of dried fruit, a cup of white and a cup of red. These pieces of food allows us to celebrate this holiday and also make us connect with it more.
Two of the greatest books I have ever read were ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘New Earth’ written by Eckhart Tolle. Both books show the importance of transcending thoughts about the past and future, becoming aware of what is around us and, of the energy within us, which helps us to live in the present.
The Power of Now was first published in 1997. Amazingly, the international bestseller was translated into 33 different languages and by 2009, 33 million copies were sold in North America. I would like to share with you some of the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and hope that you find it useful. His teachings have certainly changed my perspective on the world and I’ve never felt healthier in myself.
A Dictionary of Eckhart Terminology:
Ego : Is, ultimately, the mind and its contents, including; thoughts, self-image, repeated mind patterns and social conditioning. Here are some things to know about our old friend, Ego; Ego always needs to be right, Ego stops us from finding Love, Ego is never satisfied, and Ego stops us from living in the present. Now you may be thinking “well, this Ego business doesn’t sound very fun,” but it’s important to give Ego acceptance and Love, and after some mindfulness practise, a transcendence to a higher being can occur
Unconscious : This is meant from a spiritual point of view. Every action done out of Ego (conditioned mind patterns, out of fear, certain thoughts about ourselves or others and so on) is spiritually speaking, unconscious, meaning there is a lack of deeper awareness about what you are doing. In order to transcend unconsciousness into consciousness, there needs to be awareness. Here’s an example: Everyone, meet Jane. Jane’s age, gender, height, weight, favourite food… is all irrelevant because Jane’s way of thinking is incredibly universal.
Jane is on her way to the shop, she’s in her car, driving along the road, when suddenly, someone pulls out in front of her! Jane swears and honks her horn, she’s practically got steam coming out of her ears. When Jane goes to the shop, someone takes the last trolley, she’s tutting and sighing, “why is this happening to me?” she’s thinking. Jane is too busy feeling annoyed at the world to notice that there is a trolley waiting for her just around the corner of the shop. Nevertheless, Jane goes shopping. They don’t have any fresh bread, the milk is all gone, someone bumped into her. Nothing is going “right” for Jane. Jane is feeling so stressed out at this point. She’s had a terrible day. She gets back in her car and drives home. She just wants to climb into bed and go back to sleep.
Did you notice how quickly the energy built up within Jane? Her feelings took over her and began controlling her. This led to her having quite extreme thoughts, I mean, how does an absent shopping trolley mean that the world is against you? Her mind spiralled out of control and she got lost in the feelings rather than simply experiencing the energy within her. In these moments, she lacked awareness.
Here are some tips for Jane…
Take a deep breath. As you’re driving along, notice the beautiful light and trees around you.
Remember that if people act recklessly it’s because they are struggling to deal with feelings themselves.
Pause. Ask yourself “is this worth my peace?” The short answer is: nothing is worth your peace. Let it go.
Be aware of the energy/feeling within yourself, stay with that energy rather than becoming it entirely.
I would recommend daily meditation for Jane as this practise can help with stress and overall better mental health.
Read ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘New Earth.’
It’s important for Jane to take care of her mental and spiritual health. She deserves to find the joy, peace and Love within herself so she can smile more, like this…
Meditation steps
Sit somewhere comfortable. Preferably sitting on a cushion, with legs crossed on the floor. Find the centre point through your body.
Notice what you hear and see around you, no need to label what you see or hear, just be aware of it.
Be aware of the breath in your body.
When you notice a thought arising, gently bring your attention back to the breath in your body, or, be aware of the energy in your hands. You may experience this energy as a tingling sensation or warmth.
Practise. Don’t worry if you find it challenging the first few times, it’s about training your mind to get used to it. Don’t give up… the physical and mental health benefits are brilliant!
Starting University, you have big plans and dreams of what’s to come. You’re going to meet your best friends in week one, by week two you’ll have a local pub where you know the bartender by name, and by week three you’ll be completely settled in your tiny, overpriced accommodation and will have finished the excruciating reading list before your first official lecture.
But what if you haven’t met the group of people you fit in with yet, or if you haven’t found a pub which plays the right music all night long. What if you haven’t even started reading Dracula for your first class. What if a pandemic shuts the whole country down just as you were starting to settle in your new city? Are we missing out on these crucial years of university culture?
University culture might mean drinking till you pass out, sexual freedom found through living on your own for the first time, or maybe like most people it’s an opportunity to engage with a new landscape and be independent. Six months to adapt is a short time before you’re locked down and can curate enough banana bread to feed all the mouths in your building, but we had to do it. Perhaps you went home and felt robbed of your rent. Maybe you stayed in the city but got sick of the four walls that suffocated you Every. Single. Day. Is this the university experience we signed up for? I feel like I’m missing out. Missing the insufferable commute, missing sushi between classes, missing the nights out that remind me why I chose London over my small seaside town.
I feel like I’m missing out, but I also feel like I’ve gained from this time. I’m more creative, less anxious and actually have time to finish Dracula (even though I hate it)! Lockdown has taken so much from us, some an immeasurable amount, but for those who it has only taken their freedom to walk outside, maybe, like me, you have gained what you wouldn’t have before. Online university allows you to cook your breakfast and hug your cat whilst you learn how powerfully important the 60s teenager was to sexual liberation. If you’re on furlough, like me, you might have the extra undivided attention you needed for your assignments to get your first First. Maybe you now have common ground with your flatmates who are going through the same thing, so understand why you’ve eaten beans on toast every day for the past week. Lockdown has taken so much from us where we feel like we are missing out, but how nice will it be when we look back at this time to see that we have gained something: gained perspective on the fragility of life, gained better work habits, gained an online friend, gained half a stone. Missing out is an intense emotion that makes us feel like we are being cheated, in some cases we have been, but to find a positive in an overwhelming space of negatives makes you feel like you’re much less than missing out, rather looking forward to a new future.
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